darch:My wife got caught in this horseshiat this morning. She's been commuting to NYC through the PA for almost 20 years and it never gets better, just more annoying and soul-stealing.

Don't know how she does it.

I've ridden into the city a few times with the commuters into the Port Authority. Granted, not from PA. But, I'm sure the same rules apply to all the early-morning busses: No talking, no cell phones, no lights, no nosies whatsoever. My wife used to do it too, and she would tell me once in awhile about fights that break out when some asshat starts yapping on their phone.

H31N0US:darch: She's been commuting to NYC through the PA for almost 20 years and it never gets better, just more annoying and soul-stealing.

It's not just the PA. It is everything about commuting to NYC that keeps getting worse.

I considered taking the bus this morning and I am glad I took the train (which is STILL on a modified post-Sandy schedule due to the negligent destruction of rolling stock).

I am more than ready to put this chapter of life behind me and get a job out in the burbs...or at least JC / Hoboken.

H31N0US

Didn't you used to live here?

I take the bus every once in a while to meet my wife for dinner in the city and my GOD- I don't know how she does it, I really don't.

And SDD-

The "PA" I referred to is an abbreviation of "Port Authority". That being said, there ARE unwritten rules on the morning 126- no talking, no loud headphones, no weirdness. The worst thing she deals with regularly are the uber-entitled 20-something yuppie POS's who think that the concept of waiting in line doesn't apply to them. She ALWAYS reminds them that it does.

I take the bus every once in a while to meet my wife for dinner in the city and my GOD- I don't know how she does it, I really don't.

Yeah until 4 years ago. Took the PATH when I worked downtown but then took the bus from 6th / Clinton to PA for a year. It does suck, probably more so because of the PATH outage. And if you live above 7th forget about a seat. Coming home is worse though. Always a big line and delays.

We're at 7th and Park so she grabs the 126 at 7th and Wash. She constantly sends me pictures of the lines at the end of the day that go out of the first PA building and into the second one. Again, I do NOT know how she does it.

When I was working the midnight tour, I used to watch these people congregate at the various bus stops in town and even though I was in the last hour of a 0001-0801 tour of duty and my eyes were half-closed and I felt like shiat, I still felt lucky that I wasn't one of those blank-faced folks standing in a line in the bitter cold/stifling heat waiting for an already crowded bus.

Smoky Dragon Dish:I've ridden into the city a few times with the commuters into the Port Authority. Granted, not from PA. But, I'm sure the same rules apply to all the early-morning busses: No talking, no cell phones, no lights, no nosies whatsoever. My wife used to do it too, and she would tell me once in awhile about fights that break out when some asshat starts yapping on their phone.

Used to commute through Port Authority for years. Thankfully I only have to use it every so often now. Went through a week of it post Sandy, and wasting hours of my life away in the limbo zone of AREA X was enough for me to suck up the extra 10 bucks a day for the ferry until Path was working again.

Anyway, years back, a friend of mine moved up from PA, and started taking the bus in to Port Authority every day. For the first week he was flustered, because, like you said, nobody talked to eachother, everyone was quiet, etc. He thought it was so weird. I thought it would be weird to talk to the random dude next to you. I mean what do you say? "Hey, where are you headed?" Your on the same damn bus, you already know the answer to that.

So you get to choose. Do you want a nice, quiet relaxing commute where you can sleep, read, maybe get some work going on, or do you want a bus full of people yapping on the phone talking about last nights episode of the bachelor or something.

darch:H31N0US: darch: She's been commuting to NYC through the PA for almost 20 years and it never gets better, just more annoying and soul-stealing.

It's not just the PA. It is everything about commuting to NYC that keeps getting worse.

I considered taking the bus this morning and I am glad I took the train (which is STILL on a modified post-Sandy schedule due to the negligent destruction of rolling stock).

I am more than ready to put this chapter of life behind me and get a job out in the burbs...or at least JC / Hoboken.

H31N0US

Didn't you used to live here?

I take the bus every once in a while to meet my wife for dinner in the city and my GOD- I don't know how she does it, I really don't.

And SDD-

The "PA" I referred to is an abbreviation of "Port Authority". That being said, there ARE unwritten rules on the morning 126- no talking, no loud headphones, no weirdness. The worst thing she deals with regularly are the uber-entitled 20-something yuppie POS's who think that the concept of waiting in line doesn't apply to them. She ALWAYS reminds them that it does.

Shame trumps entitlement- usually.

I realized that after I posted... PA = Port Authority. I hadn't finished my coffee yet. I do see the Martz busses all the time on 80, and I think about those poor souls who commute in from Allentown, PA to the PA. The 196 rolls through my town down from Warwick, NY once a day, although the 196 usually originates in my town. I was seeing a doctor in Manhattan and I would schedule my appointments early in the morning, so I could ride in with my wife. She was horrified when I started playing with my phone. Not to call anybody, mind you, I was only surfing the web silently, but it may have been bright enough to bother someone. I've always rode to work in my car, and I have always been lucky that I've always been going against the morning commute. But, if I had my choice, I would ride the train before I ride any busses.

I totally understand the other side of it, when you're coming home. Assholes always try to cut the line for the bus. The Penn Station "guess what train" game is a lot more fun to play, especially when the departing train ends up on a track nobody anticipates. Since they built the Secaucus Junction, I don't have to play that anymore. Anytime anything is happeneing at MSG, it doesn't make sense to drive into the city since they built that. Why pay $50 for tolls and parking, when you can pay no more than $30 to take the train from there?

LineNoise:Smoky Dragon Dish: I've ridden into the city a few times with the commuters into the Port Authority. Granted, not from PA. But, I'm sure the same rules apply to all the early-morning busses: No talking, no cell phones, no lights, no nosies whatsoever. My wife used to do it too, and she would tell me once in awhile about fights that break out when some asshat starts yapping on their phone.

Used to commute through Port Authority for years. Thankfully I only have to use it every so often now. Went through a week of it post Sandy, and wasting hours of my life away in the limbo zone of AREA X was enough for me to suck up the extra 10 bucks a day for the ferry until Path was working again.

Anyway, years back, a friend of mine moved up from PA, and started taking the bus in to Port Authority every day. For the first week he was flustered, because, like you said, nobody talked to eachother, everyone was quiet, etc. He thought it was so weird. I thought it would be weird to talk to the random dude next to you. I mean what do you say? "Hey, where are you headed?" Your on the same damn bus, you already know the answer to that.

So you get to choose. Do you want a nice, quiet relaxing commute where you can sleep, read, maybe get some work going on, or do you want a bus full of people yapping on the phone talking about last nights episode of the bachelor or something.

Area X being the Secaucus Junction? Most of the time when doing something recreational in Midtown, that's where we park and ride in. We don't have train stations up where I live, or they don't run on weekends. After 7PM, parking is $7.50.

LineNoise:There used to be a woman who would hang out by the Duane Reede on the south east corner on 40th street, where you would come down the double escalators.

I have never smelt anything that compared to her. It would literally water your eyes from 50 feet away.

There's still an old lady sitting there every now and then. There used to be a guy by the bank of pay phones in the south wing right next to the lottery stand on the second floor that I would go out of my way to avoid.

JerseyTim:LineNoise: There used to be a woman who would hang out by the Duane Reede on the south east corner on 40th street, where you would come down the double escalators.

I have never smelt anything that compared to her. It would literally water your eyes from 50 feet away.

There's still an old lady sitting there every now and then. There used to be a guy by the bank of pay phones in the south wing right next to the lottery stand on the second floor that I would go out of my way to avoid.

Smoky Dragon Dish:Area X being the Secaucus Junction? Most of the time when doing something recreational in Midtown, that's where we park and ride in. We don't have train stations up where I live, or they don't run on weekends. After 7PM, parking is $7.50.

No, when the Path was knocked out they set up this special place in the north building of PA called AREA X, for buses that were running to replace the path lines. The line for it snaked all around the first floor of the north building, out the back door, up and down some alley, back inside, and then finally to that part of 41st street that runs under the two buildings.

If satan made a line at the gates of hell, it would probably be a slightly more cheery and less soul crushing version of the line for AREA X.

The woman is still by the Duane Reade. I pass through the PA every day on the way to my office in...Times Square. Truly going from the frying pan into the fire. Navigating the PA is rough, but struggling through the hordes of tourists (especially this time of year) is worse. That said, the bus ride in is usually uneventful and the quiet environment really is conducive to getting work done, reading or my favorite: catching up on sleep.

WTF is wrong with you people?!?!!!How can you possibly be wasting your atttention on this trivial nonsense!!!Don't you know that a photographer was killed trying to get a picture of Bieber in his car?!!??!!!!Dammit people!!!! Its trending RIGHT NOW!!!!!

darch:My wife got caught in this horseshiat this morning. She's been commuting to NYC through the PA for almost 20 years and it never gets better, just more annoying and soul-stealing.

Don't know how she does it.

I've been doing it for about 15 years now and, yeah, I'm just about ready to give it up. What used to be a door-to-door time of ~1:10 has become more like 1:30 in the last year or so, especially since Sandy. The train is still about 1:10 but that includes a switch in Secaucus which is a pain in the ass, and also costs a couple bucks more. The ferry is not practical. My only remaining option seems to be the train. Fark Chris Christie right up his chubby asshole for his decision to shut down the new tunnel project (which would have eliminated the Secaucus transfer for me).

The PABT is the most soul-stealing, spirit-crushing transit hub in the city, arguably the state, possibly the northeast. It's a combination of extraordinarily dated interior design, virtually no internal organization to speak of (and no maps to make finding your way even more difficult), and the constant smell of bus fumes, urine, and body odor, usually mixed together.

And then you look at it from the outside and you know you've seen more pleasantly designed parking garages.

I don't say this about many spots in NYC: I *literally* have nothing nice to say about that place. It should be condemned. Anyone coming to NYC for the first time through the PABT is given a first impression so poor that it rivals only that of Penn Station, another transit armpit in the city.

/ Grand Central is amazing, and I honestly envy anyone who gets to commute through there.// It's amazing what a clean, *nice* train station does for your mood/// Even if you're just stopping off at the Apple Store to buy a spare charger.

xsarien:The PABT is the most soul-stealing, spirit-crushing transit hub in the city, arguably the state, possibly the northeast. It's a combination of extraordinarily dated interior design, virtually no internal organization to speak of (and no maps to make finding your way even more difficult), and the constant smell of bus fumes, urine, and body odor, usually mixed together.

And then you look at it from the outside and you know you've seen more pleasantly designed parking garages.

I don't say this about many spots in NYC: I *literally* have nothing nice to say about that place. It should be condemned. Anyone coming to NYC for the first time through the PABT is given a first impression so poor that it rivals only that of Penn Station, another transit armpit in the city.

/ Grand Central is amazing, and I honestly envy anyone who gets to commute through there.// It's amazing what a clean, *nice* train station does for your mood/// Even if you're just stopping off at the Apple Store to buy a spare charger.

It really IS that horrible. I've yet to find anything at ALL redeeming about it. Perhaps the Ralph Kramden statue on 8th Ave... that's about it. The homeless, it's location (42nd and 8th? The epicenter of gross), the lack of maps, the fumes... just awful. It's so bad that if I'm meeting Mrs. Darch in NYC, I drive. Unless I know I'm going to be drinking to excess, it's the DarchMobile!

darch:xsarien: The PABT is the most soul-stealing, spirit-crushing transit hub in the city, arguably the state, possibly the northeast. It's a combination of extraordinarily dated interior design, virtually no internal organization to speak of (and no maps to make finding your way even more difficult), and the constant smell of bus fumes, urine, and body odor, usually mixed together.

And then you look at it from the outside and you know you've seen more pleasantly designed parking garages.

I don't say this about many spots in NYC: I *literally* have nothing nice to say about that place. It should be condemned. Anyone coming to NYC for the first time through the PABT is given a first impression so poor that it rivals only that of Penn Station, another transit armpit in the city.

/ Grand Central is amazing, and I honestly envy anyone who gets to commute through there.// It's amazing what a clean, *nice* train station does for your mood/// Even if you're just stopping off at the Apple Store to buy a spare charger.

It really IS that horrible. I've yet to find anything at ALL redeeming about it. Perhaps the Ralph Kramden statue on 8th Ave... that's about it. The homeless, it's location (42nd and 8th? The epicenter of gross), the lack of maps, the fumes... just awful. It's so bad that if I'm meeting Mrs. Darch in NYC, I drive. Unless I know I'm going to be drinking to excess, it's the DarchMobile!

==============

All of the above.

When I was a kid, my parents always insisted on taking the bus from Jersey into the PABT. The stench would literally make me nauseous, and giving me a headache. When we'd get out on the street the nausea would clear up, but the headache lasted the rest of the day.

It's inexcusable that such a thing should still be standing in NYC, along with the hell portal known as Penn Station. I keep hearing how there will be no more jobs created unless we cut the tax rate on the wealthy to zero. BULLSHIAT! The wealthy don't care about creating jobs. The wealthy also don't care about mass transit. Why would a guy who owns a chauffeur-driven armored limo care about a bus terminal? We need to tax the rich @90% and use the money to rebuilt the transportation infrastructure in and around NYC. It will give the local economy an immediate boost by employing thousands of construction workers, and boost NYC into true world class city status.

I leave you with a pic of old Penn Station, back in the day when people imagined that the world would become a civilized place.

darch:xsarien: The PABT is the most soul-stealing, spirit-crushing transit hub in the city, arguably the state, possibly the northeast. It's a combination of extraordinarily dated interior design, virtually no internal organization to speak of (and no maps to make finding your way even more difficult), and the constant smell of bus fumes, urine, and body odor, usually mixed together.

And then you look at it from the outside and you know you've seen more pleasantly designed parking garages.

I don't say this about many spots in NYC: I *literally* have nothing nice to say about that place. It should be condemned. Anyone coming to NYC for the first time through the PABT is given a first impression so poor that it rivals only that of Penn Station, another transit armpit in the city.

/ Grand Central is amazing, and I honestly envy anyone who gets to commute through there.// It's amazing what a clean, *nice* train station does for your mood/// Even if you're just stopping off at the Apple Store to buy a spare charger.

It really IS that horrible. I've yet to find anything at ALL redeeming about it. Perhaps the Ralph Kramden statue on 8th Ave... that's about it. The homeless, it's location (42nd and 8th? The epicenter of gross), the lack of maps, the fumes... just awful. It's so bad that if I'm meeting Mrs. Darch in NYC, I drive. Unless I know I'm going to be drinking to excess, it's the DarchMobile!

I'm not saying I enjoy the place, but I can't say I smell anything there (normally). It's reasonably well-maintained. You find the dregs of humanity in the restrooms, though.

The br at the PA is right by where the 126 bus lines up. I've used it plenty, especially after happy hours. You don't want to be stuck in the tunnel having to take a piss (once I got off at that Thai place in Weehawken just to take a piss, and got back on the next bus).

Anyway, the bathrooms in PA are dirty but who cares. A urinal is a urinal. I did sometimes get the impression there were cockwatchers in there, but if some dude wants to whack it to the memory of seeing me shake my tool dry at a urinal, that's his issue.

H31N0US:The br at the PA is right by where the 126 bus lines up. I've used it plenty, especially after happy hours. You don't want to be stuck in the tunnel having to take a piss (once I got off at that Thai place in Weehawken just to take a piss, and got back on the next bus).

Anyway, the bathrooms in PA are dirty but who cares. A urinal is a urinal. I did sometimes get the impression there were cockwatchers in there, but if some dude wants to whack it to the memory of seeing me shake my tool dry at a urinal, that's his issue.

It's the guys who talk to themselves and the guys who wash their underwear in the sink that bug me. And, yes, the cockwatchers. And the ubiquitous paper towels and cigarette butts in the urinals.

H31N0US:The br at the PA is right by where the 126 bus lines up. I've used it plenty, especially after happy hours. You don't want to be stuck in the tunnel having to take a piss (once I got off at that Thai place in Weehawken just to take a piss, and got back on the next bus).

Anyway, the bathrooms in PA are dirty but who cares. A urinal is a urinal. I did sometimes get the impression there were cockwatchers in there, but if some dude wants to whack it to the memory of seeing me shake my tool dry at a urinal, that's his issue.

I'm not so concerned with being watched as I am concerned with what said cuckoo bird may have in mind AFTER watching. Doing what I do for a living, I have to expect the worst and hope for the best. In transient places like the PA, I most certainly expect the worst.

Then again, my beautiful 5'2" wife has been going in and out of that place 5 days a week for almost 20 years and is still in one piece so it could be worse I suppose.

JerseyTim:I'm actually surprised that the bathrooms at the PABT are as clean as they are. The first time I got desperate enough to use one, I was expecting that scene from Trainspotting.

The one upstairs has the worst design, though. You know, with that little entry hallway and you have to go left or right, even though you can't see where there are available urinals, and sometimes there's a line that makes you have to do a U-turn, and then you bump into two guys on your way out because there's no set pattern of walking on the left or the right. That one sucks, man.